Game Night: Trona looks to end slide against Big Pine

Trona has lost three straight games, and needs to avoid another defeat to keep its postseason hopes alive. The Div. 2, No. 9-ranked Tornadoes play at Big Pine on Saturday afternoon looking to end their season on a high note against a beatable opponent.

Trona has lost three straight games, and needs to avoid another defeat to keep its postseason hopes alive. The Div. 2, No. 9-ranked Tornadoes play at Big Pine on Saturday afternoon looking to end their season on a high note against a beatable opponent.

"The key is focus — I think our kids have lost a lot of focus," Tornadoes head coach Curtis Boutte said. "They got off to a really good start, and then Kings Christian came in and beat us up pretty good — we haven't really recovered from that.

"Now it's about healing and focusing back up to where we were."

Trona (6-3, 2-1 Hi-Lo) has had one victory during this three-week stretch — a forfeit win over Lee Vining. The Tornadoes lost to Div. 2, No. 7-ranked Faith Baptist 49-24 last week for a third consecutive defeat at The Pit.

"We found some things that we didn't know were there, and that was great," Boutte said. "We pretty much tried to see what we had in certain areas, and it turned out pretty well."

Linemen Allen Trotter and George Horta saw an increase in playing time against Faith Baptist, and should see a significant amount of snaps against Big Pine.

"They did the job for us to where we're going to be able to use them on our offensive line and free up some other people."

The Tornadoes should be able to end their losing streak on Saturday against a winless Big Pine team. The Warriors have lost their six games by an average of 56 points, and are coming off a 64-6 loss against Immanuel Christian.

"They're down to eight players, and they're in struggles," Boutte said. "Hopefully I can rest some of my injured players one more week and get some kids that haven't played some more experience."

Trona has its sights set on the postseason, and wants to enter the playoffs with momentum.

"Hopefully we can get out of their with no injuries and a win, and then move on to CIF," Boutte said. "I'm kind of interested to see where we go from here."

The Tornadoes have cooled off since winning their first five games of the season, but Boutte said the team is still in good shape as the regular season comes to a close. Trona still has a shot at the Hi-Lo league championship — if Lone Pine beats ICS on Friday there could be a three-way tie at the top.

"I've seen some things and I like what I've seen," Boutte said. "We've been a one-dimensional team for most of the year, and I'm hoping that we get a good draw and we can surprise some teams in CIF."